The COCKPIT II: knowledge is power. The forecast.

Event Attractiveness.

One thing is non-negotiable: the Pareto Principle. In the early 20th century, Pareto discovered that 20% of Italian families owned 80% of the land in Italy. He applied this rule, also known as the 80/20 rule, to nature, and the result was astonishing. He found that 80% of his pea harvest came from just 20% of his plants. What does this mean for us? With just a few likes or dislikes from Event-Dating, it’s possible to identify how attractive an event is to the current team of employees. The less attractive it is, the more effort is required to fill these positions. That's why we've developed a score using quantile calculation, indicating whether an event will require a lot or a little effort.

An 'A' means that the event will be easy to staff and requires no additional attention. An 'E' means that the event is unattractive to employees and action is required. If an event is unattractive, the conditions of the event must be improved to increase its attractiveness. This could be, for example, a higher wage. It could also be a change in the start or end time, or a change in the dress code. Not everything can be solved with money. Perhaps it is also worthwhile not to accept this event – and to focus on more promising ones. Surprisingly, many events require significantly less attention than the 20% that bind your attention and workload.

The Forecast. Are my own employees enough, or do I need support?

Based on this measured event attractiveness, we derive a forecast for the future: we calculate the maximum number of employees you can expect for this event. The organizer now knows exactly how many employees they need to request from service providers, who can then promptly provide a reliable number of employees to count on. Informal knowledge from scheduling and HR is thus converted into fact-based, reliable data. Even 'E' events can be staffed: if the team is large enough. – If not: see above.

Support. Inviting service providers for assistance.

The result of the forecast was: as an organizer, I must be able to invite service providers to collaborate – and they should be able to join my planning in real-time. The cockpit now allows connected service providers to be invited to collaborate with two clicks. In the cockpit, these events are marked as “external.” The service providers can, in turn, invite their employees to the external event, but they cannot change any event parameters. The organizer sees the service provider's employees in real-time and can thus estimate whether they still need support or not. If event times or locations change, all employees involved in the event will be notified via chat-bot – regardless of which company they come from.

One more thing. Event visibility in Event-Dating.

Sometimes SMARTCHILLI Flow is faster than the company using it. An event for James Blunt for 30 employees was staffed in 6 minutes. When scheduling looked at the system the next morning, they were quite surprised. Overnight, 10 additional employees had been added. To prevent this from happening in the future, an event is automatically removed from Event-Dating once it is staffed. No additional employees can 'like' it anymore. The available potential is then redirected to other, not yet fully booked events. If an employee cancels a fully booked event, it automatically reopens – until it is staffed again.

Nerd Knowledge.

Our popular section offers insights into the success of SMARTCHILLI Flow.

1. Virtuous Circles.

Employees decide which event suits them – and which doesn't. Focusing on those that fit the team means increasing employee satisfaction and retention. Through this and word-of-mouth marketing, you'll find new employees, and they, in turn, will enable you to acquire more attractive events.

2. Applying Pareto.

Pareto cannot be applied everywhere. It doesn't apply to art or music, for example. But surprisingly, a lot of work can be saved by eliminating the quirky 20% that yield little or no return and making them more attractive. You can find more about this useful principle here on wikipedia.

3. The forecast function provides security.

Employees always have the option to change their minds until they are 'set to green'. The forecast function continuously shows whether the event can be fulfilled.

4. Creativity for unattractive events increases employee curiosity.

Instead of canceling an unattractive event, it might be worthwhile to offer prizes to employees for participating. Recurring events can be enhanced, for example, by a reward system ("For every 5th assignment, you will receive a voucher/prize.").